which has lead me here. 

@Neil Aggarwal Pretty much all vendors in the industry use "Preforeclosure" to mean the period of time between the notice of default and notice of trustee sale in non-judicial foreclosure, or between the lis pendens and the notice of sale in judicial states (with some state to state variation thanks to things like combo notices).For the period you mention, during which the owner is simply late on their payments, those are called "mortgage late" leads or 30/60/90 day late leads.

Good rates, team, and they always have leads on people selling buildings and put together deals.

This leads me to believe my input of $1000 per unit of rental income for the one bedrooms is obtainable.

I have my first, legitimately strong lead after months of driving for dollars and I'm seeking ideas on how to structure an offer.

This should lead you to a larger supply of inventory & a smoother buying experience.

Is it a good idea or bad idea to target pre-foreclosure leads that are occupied with the homeowner still living there?

I have talked to a few real estate agents in the Colorado Springs area but most contacts aren’t really knowledgeable or willing to take on a mentorship role or helping others.

@Mario Gonzalez NJ has a couple things working against your plan, when it comes to finding off-market leads. 1. it's tough to get a  list to mail to because most of NJ combines single and multi-family homes when the report to the list compilers. 2. it's quite competitive.

Different skills for different roles.